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ENDORSED BY:

"Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic exposes the opioid lie we have been living in America for decades. This film and companion book can play a key role in educating communities about why opioid manufacturers should be held accountable for their calculated deception of health professionals and the general public. It's time for accountability. It's time for restitution. It's time to help our communities heal and recover."

- Greg Williams, MA (Executive Vice President, Facing Addiction with NCADD)

Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic

Today’s opioid addiction epidemic is the worst man-made public health epidemic in American history. Every year, we lose more people to opioid addiction deaths than were killed in the entire Vietnam War.

Working closely with Dr. Andrew Kolodny and PROP (Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing), the new feature documentary Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic exposes how this catastrophic man-made public health crisis began. Filmed in the opioid epidemic ground zeros of Seattle, Kentucky and New Hampshire, the film features poignant stories from recovering addicts and families with losses; reveals the insights of leading doctors and law enforcement officers; reports the failure of drug companies to take appropriate responsibility for the crisis; traces what monies legislators have received; and focuses on those who fight back with effective, long-lasting treatment programs. Narrated by Golden Globe®-winning actor Ed Harris, the 90-minute feature unravels the unintentional web of co-conspirators and sheds light on the suspicious circumstances that have led to the opioid crisis.

 

Do No Harm Screening Events:

  • Spark discussion and community dialogue
  • Raise public awareness
  • Encourage public policy advocacy
  • Inspire and promote calls to action
  • Support organization benefits

 

This groundbreaking film is endorsed by the Executive Director at American Public Health Association, Dr. Georges Benjamin and his 25,000 member organization.

Endorsements

“The individual chapters of Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic chronicle this opioid epidemic in all its complexity from many perspectives including the plight of the millions of Americans who suffer from opioid addiction. In its pages, people both young and old who are on the rocky road to recovery tell their harrowing stories, current victories, and on-going struggles with the disease. Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic is one of those timely and relevant exposes that deserves as wide a readership as possible. Impressively informative, and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Medical Issues & Substance Abuse Recovery collections in general, and Opioid Epidemic supplemental curriculum studies in particular, it should be noted for personal reading lists that Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781684423231, $19.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.39), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781690556251, $22.99,CD).

 

                         

Midwest Book Review

Actor Ed Harris narrates filmmaker Harry Wiland’s straightforward but impassioned documentary about how big pharma in its promotion of opioid formulations as safe treatments for chronic pain induced doctors to prescribe medications that were in fact addictive. The seriousness of the opioid epidemic in the United States is beyond dispute, and Wiland does an admirable job of outlining its various facets in this timely documentary. Recommended.

Video Librarian The Video Review Magazine for Libraries

“In a clear and engaging way, this passionate and disturbing film traces the origin of the worst man-made epidemic in history. By learning how it happened we are left better equipped to respond and better equipped to prevent future disasters. It should be required viewing for anyone interested in tackling the opioid addiction epidemic.”

Andrew Kolodny The Co-Director of Opioid Policy Research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University/Executive Director of PROP (Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing)

“The government calls this an emergency. Families call it a plague! The White House says that the opioid epidemic now costs the U.S. Economy 504 billion dollars a year. The time for action is now. The time for communities to see this film is now.”

 

Bob Elliott National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, San Diego
“Those of us who work in addiction treatment and rehabilitation need to expand our abilities to provide knowledge. “Do No Harm” illustrates the unvarnished truth on how the medical profession and public were “duped” into creating an epidemic that could have been prevented.”
Bob Dorris National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, San Fernando Valley, CA

“Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic exposes the opioid lie we have been living in America for decades. This film and companion book can play a key role in educating communities about why opioid manufacturers should be held accountable for their calculated deception of health professionals and the general public. It’s time for accountability. It’s time for restitution. It’s time to help our communities heal and recover.”

Greg Williams, MA Executive Vice President, Facing Addiction with NCADD

“Appreciate the Media Policy team’s enormous efforts that align and certainly support our shared public, community, and political education mission.”

David Tauben, MD Chief of Pain Medicine, University of Washington

“The opioid epidemic is the culmination of misaligned incentives and poor regulatory oversight of prescribers, a cash cow for pharma, and an incredibly alluring drug for patients. Despite immense effort to gain control of the damaging and deadly crisis, we have made only marginal gains. The persistent yet changing landscape of the epidemic is testament to the profound effects that an opioid has on its users, whether through its exacerbation of pain, the search for the next best high, or the craving caused by addiction. Do No Harm presents this disturbing but important story.”

Lewis S. Nelson, MD Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

“Do No Harm does an excellent job of defining the causes and conditions resulting in one-quarter of a million deaths due to use of opioids – the main takeaway is that opioids are NOT the proper solution for the treatment of chronic pain.”

Mel Pohl, MD DFASAM Chief Medical Officer, Las Vegas Recovery Center

“Do No Harm unflinchingly exposes the role of the pharmaceutical industry in the creation of the current opioid epidemic, while also compassionately probing the suffering of its victims … who include not only those who have died or become addicted to opioids, but their grieving parents and orphaned children left behind.”

Anna Lembke Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center

“Every clinician who prescribes opioids for chronic pain needs to watch this program. Until we are honest about the harm that has been done, and the role of well-intentioned physicians in fueling the devastating epidemics of prescription drug addiction and overdose, we cannot begin to turn this problem around.”

Michael Von Korff Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle WA

“The irony is drugs that can take away anguish always seem to create anguish as payback.”

Christopher J Evans Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Hatos Center for Neuropharmacology

“Opioid drugs are great until they aren’t. They aren’t when they stop giving pleasure and pain relief, and start destroying natural pleasure and pain relief. Education is the strongest tool for prevention and Do No Harm is the best (or strongest) film I have seen in battling this epidemic.”

Jane C. Ballantyne Professor, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington

“Doctors, drug companies, and politicians must accept responsibility for their part in creating the cruel opioid epidemic, but alone they will fail to reverse its scourge. Community and family efforts, education and persistence, are inescapable treatment modalities. Do No Harm shows us the terrible pain, and who’s to blame, but also gives us hope with recovery strategies, not just for individuals, but for the nation.”

Richard J. Jackson Professor of Environmental Health, UCLA School of Public Health

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